statement by rebecca belmore on her work: my way of working is largely based on immediate experience. the performances i have created over the years often directly responded to the place in which I found myself. location and memory are key elements in my approach to making art. i have always had a strong interest in trying to imagine where we have been.
when I was a young girl, our mother took us to a tiny island in northern ontario to show us where she was born. about ten years ago, long after our mother’s death, my sister and I went on a canoe trip with the intent of revisiting this island. navigating by childhood memory we could not find the place. but, it was enough to be in the midst of a beautiful absence.
this journey, driven by the desire to witness again, had a profound effect on my creative process. i recall my mother taking us to a small clearing on this island and showing where the cabin had been. we looked at the ground and I could see where the foundation of her birthplace had rotted into the land. a square was drawn by time like a memory onto the earth.
i like to think that this entire experience illustrates how i work. i am aware of the elusive nature of memory. creating in the presence of the absent makes me a witness. i believe i am just beginning to understand my role, particularly as an artist who has inherited an indigenous history. canada’s official representative at the 2005 venice biennale of visual art
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